Watch How Special Forces Busted Into The Megaupload Mansion

On January 20, dozens of New Zealand police’s elite special forces broke into Kim Dotcom’s mansion with assault helicopters, M4A3 automatic weapons, Glock pistols, dogs, sledgehammers and even a circular chainsaw, as if they were expecting a vicious narco gang waiting inside, armed to the teeth.

What they found instead was two kids, a 15-month-old baby, some Filipino nannies, two security guards, Dotcom’s bodyguard Wayne Tempero, Dotcom’s wife and meganerd Kim Dotcom himself, hiding in the security room you are seeing in this video.

Tempero told the story on how the Kiwi cops assaulted the Megaupload founder’s home and how they captured Kim himself to Kiwi news channel 3news. It sounds pretty scary and way out of proportion, given the nature of the alleged offence and the people involved.

The operation started at 6.45am, when the thunder of the assault helicopters woke up the body guard and everyone in the house. He stepped outside to see the helicopters when a policeman in a bulletproof vest asked him to surrender. He didn’t have any weapons and he complied. He also said that he couldn’t even hear them identifying themselves as police officers because of the sound, but obviously these were no criminals trying to kidnap anyone.

As this was happening, the elite squads and the police officers were going around the house, smashing doors and looking for Kim Dotcom with dogs. In the childhood area they found the kids and the Filipino nannies. According to Tempero, the police asked the Filipino nannies — who must be famous in New Zealand for their ferocity and skills in explosives manufacturing — if they had any bombs.

They also found the wife, who tried to give them the code to open the door to Kim Dotcom’s quarters before they tried to slam the doors down. Dotcom had run to his secure Red Room, where he stayed for 30 minutes until he was apprehended. On the way to get him, the police smashed an old lift door thinking it was the gate to a secret room.

Tempero says that the whole thing was out of proportion and it sure seems like it. He says that Dotcom, who apart from his bad taste and huge appetite, seems like any regular nerd, “would have complied with everything, we would have sat at the large table, he would’ve probably offered them breakfast and he would have complied with everything.” Of course, he is his bodyguard, but it doesn’t seem like an outlandish claim to me.

A Lesson

So why did the New Zealand government send this brutal group of forces to take down a fat nerd, his wife and his kids?

I’m sure they knew what people were in the family mansion as well as the impossibility of Dotcom erasing evidence about his activities — which they already had and it was pretty damn huge. It seems reasonable to think that this is something that the FBI and any police halfwit working in the case should have known about.

The only plausible explanation, apart from being super-extra-careful because they thought that John McCain may be hanging around somewhere, is that they wanted to set an example. Perhaps the Hollywood moguls who were so eager to set an example and scare every other download service in the world, pushed for it. Or maybe these New Zealand policemen watch too many of their movies.

In any case, the fear strategy has worked: download services all around the world — many of which are used legimitally — are either shutting down for good or closing access to people in the United States.

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I agree it was OTT, but not many "regular nerds" have a bodyguard and two security guards at their home.

It would be interesting to hear the police explain their decision to go in heavy - did they have any information at all that made them suspect there were arms in the house? Or was it just a case of the NZ swat boys not getting many chances to use their toys so they leaped at the opportunity?

Will be interesting to see if he takes action against the Police for using unreasonable force. Any person with half a brain would know that even if he did personally possess copious amounts of pirated material, the chances of someone with that much money keeping it on their own premises... very remote. Stooges.

http://www.police.govt.nz/about/code-of-conduct.html near the bottom, "serious misconduct" - "Excessive use for force" - one of the occupants of the house just needs to lodge a formal complaint - I doubt the commissioner authorised the SOG to kick down open doors or draw wepons without good evidence of armed occupants - police guns must be made safe at all times unless a clear danger is identified. It is also "Misconduct" to "treat a persone harshly" - clearly that happened in this case. Massive waste of public resources and serious tarnishing of the rep of the NZ police - "wilful misuse of police equipment" - also an offence. Murderers are not arrested in this way - disgraceful.

Didn't something like 9 NZ Police officers get shot and killed in the line of duty last year? That's a lot considering how small the force is.

It's all very well for us to sit back and in hindsight say "Hah! They found nothing!" but no-one can know that for sure until they're inside. Is it likely that someone was inside with guns ready to be violent? Not likely, but would you bet your life on it?

If it was your life on the line (or that of your loved one) would YOU walk up half arsed and ask if they wouldn't mind letting you in to arrest everyone? Or would you plan for the worst, all the while hoping for the best?

Very few people resist in the face of overwhelming force when they might 'have a go' if faced with a weaker opponent. It's safer for everyone involved.

Thats it, there were reports allready that he loved to shoot guns. I'm not saying he would use them but thats a possible risk that the police have to take into account. He is also an extreme flight risk if they just showed up with 2 cops he might have tried to run. They also have no idea what kind of evidence he was destroying during that 30 minutes.

A mansion with panic room, lift, 2 security guards and a bodyguard? In New Zealand? Isn't that overkill security? I think the response from the cops was appropriate. To me it also looks like dotcom was trying to protect himself not from the cops but from some high level criminal organization. I think his mega brand is a front for some serious criminal activity and I have no sympathy at all for this guy. Also, Filipino nannies? What, he doesn't have enough cash to hire some local that he has to import some underpaid illegal workers? Or maybe it's easier to conduct his illegal activities in front of 2 poor Filipino girls than local nannies?

The number one rule of police work is to expect the worst hope for the best. But this was an operation to capture a. Copyright infringed and maybe money launderer. Had this been a bank chief they'd have pulled up in an unmarked car and silently haul him away. This is a gross over use of force and waste of police resources. Copyright infringer, not Bikie.

Exactly, they should of at least given him the chance to surrender peacefully. if the unmarked police car and officers started getting shot at when they came up to the gate then fine bring in the helicopters and chainsaws, otherwise they are just being dicks.

Good on the cops. They did their job well. A successful apprehension of a known evader from a secured compound with many innocent occupants.
And what type of man cowers in a safe-room after forsaking his children and wife... speaks volumes.

He has security guards, bodyguard and a panic room which contained a shotgun. Kim was known to be in possesion of several other weapons too. So it is a justified response. Remember that NZ Police are typically unarmed and the terrible 2009 incident in Napier when a supposedly simple task turned deadly for the police involved and required Army assistance.

I just watched the whole video and it is pretty damning. For Kim Dotcm, rather than the police.

Not only did Mr. Dotcom hide himself in a closet-sized saferoom that was disguised as a closet during the raid, he later got himself up to the attic and put a key into the lock on the gun locker before NZ Police finally caught up with him.

Either that, or the key was already in the lock, which is just as bad - no, worse - in a house with children.

An armed military force storms a man's house and he has access to those resources, OF COURSE he's going to be frightened out of his tiny mind and going to try and use them!
Now if they'd come as they should off, in a nice polite way and knocked on his door and handled this like they would any other normal incident and exactly what this warranted, then he would've reacted a bit differently.

You people brought up on American TV cop shows and war reports lose sight of reality and sanity.